The death of 42-year-old political prisoner Somayeh Rashidi after denied medical care in Qarchak Prison has triggered outrage from current and former prisoners, who call it a state killing through systematic neglect, amid mounting executions across Iran.
Somayeh Rashidi, a 42-year-old political prisoner with epilepsy, died on 25 September 2025 (3 Mehr) after months of denied medical care in Qarchak Prison, southeast of Tehran. Arrested in May for writing political graffiti and charged with “propaganda against the state,” she was first held in Evin before being transferred to Qarchak, where she suffered repeated epileptic seizures. Prison staff dismissed them as malingering, delayed hospital transfers, and substituted sedatives for treatment.
In mid-September, after another seizure following a forensic medical assessment, Rashidi was taken back to her ward instead of being sent directly to hospital. During that delay, her condition worsened; she fell into a coma, and although eventually transferred to Mofatteh Hospital in Varamin, she never regained consciousness. On 25 September, she died. Judicial authorities attributed her death to “pre-existing health problems” and sought to link her to the Mojahedin-e Khalq, a claim fellow prisoners denounced as a smear. According to human rights groups, her family has been pressured to describe the death as a “hospital error.”
Her death has sparked an unprecedented wave of protest, both from women imprisoned with her in Qarchak and from political prisoners across Iran.
Women prisoners in Qarchak: Rashidi was left to die
Forty-five women political prisoners in Qarchak issued a statement declaring Rashidi the victim of the authorities’ “incompetence and neglect.” They described her as “full of desire for life and freedom” and testified that her epilepsy was known from the moment of her detention.
“We, 45 women prisoners in Qarchak’s political ward, testify that Somayeh Rashidi was neither addicted to drugs nor suffering from psychiatric illness. From the day she entered prison, all authorities—security officials, the Prisons Organization, Qarchak staff, and its infirmary—knew she had epilepsy. We saw her suffer severe seizures again and again, especially in the past two months. Yet after each episode, she was returned from the infirmary without hospitalization, without emergency care, and without recognition of her condition.”
The statement warns that the lives of other prisoners in Qarchak, both political and non-political, remain in danger. Two other women have died there in recent weeks under similar circumstances. The signatories demand urgent measures, including the release of elderly and sick inmates.
150 former political prisoners: “Her death was systematic”
In a separate statement, 150 former political prisoners—including prominent figures such as Narges Mohammadi, Arash Sadeghi, and Sepideh Gholian—described Rashidi’s death as “systematic.”
“Somayeh’s death was neither sudden nor inevitable,” they wrote, “but the direct result of deliberate neglect, structural incompetence, and repressive policies that treat human lives as disposable in the prisons of the Islamic Republic.”
They emphasized that prison officials knew of Rashidi’s medical condition from the beginning of her detention. Yet instead of treatment, she was subjected to bureaucratic cruelty: a bail set at three billion tomans, far beyond her family’s means; refusal to reduce it despite the obvious threat to her life; and pressure on her relatives after her death to remain silent.
Thirty political prisoners: “The lives of inmates are in danger”
On 29 September, thirty political prisoners issued a letter stressing that Rashidi’s death exposes the systemic denial of prisoners’ rights.
“The death of Somayeh Rashidi shows once again that prison and judicial authorities refuse to recognize even the most basic rights of prisoners, especially those with serious medical conditions. Negligence and failure to meet their elementary responsibilities guarantee the repetition of such tragedies,” they wrote.
The signatories called for the swift prosecution of those responsible, the unconditional release of sick prisoners, the return of women political detainees exiled from Evin to other facilities, and the establishment of properly equipped prison clinics.
Hunger strikes: protest from inside Evin
Inside Evin Prison, protests escalated. On 26 September, political prisoner Hamid Ardalan in Ward 7 announced a “wet hunger strike.” In a letter addressed to “the jailers of darkness,” he wrote:
“In protest at the state killing of Ms. Somayeh Rashidi in Qarchak Prison, and at the denial of health and basic rights to her and to other women prisoners, I declare my hunger strike until the women of Qarchak are transferred back to Evin and provided with medical care. Even if my body collapses, I will not end this strike.”
Another political prisoner, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, also began a hunger strike in Evin, demanding accountability for Rashidi’s death and the transfer of women political prisoners out of Qarchak. At the same time, nineteen women inside Qarchak launched a two-day hunger strike to mourn Rashidi and protest the authorities’ refusal to take responsibility.
Qarchak as emblem of systemic abuse
Human rights groups describe Qarchak as one of Iran’s most notorious prisons. Built on the grounds of a former poultry farm, it now holds more than 1,200 women in overcrowded hangars. Conditions include unsanitary toilets, contaminated water, poor food, lack of medical care, and the mixing of political prisoners with violent offenders. Iran Human Rights has repeatedly called for its closure, describing it as “hell for women and children.”
Rashidi’s fellow prisoners emphasize that her death is not an isolated tragedy but part of a broader policy of medical neglect used as punishment. As they put it:
“Somayeh was full of life and hope. She did not die by fate—she was killed by the deliberate negligence of those who had sworn to protect her life.”
Background: a wave of executions
Rashidi’s death occurs against the backdrop of a dramatic surge in executions in Iran. In September alone, at least 190 people were executed—the highest monthly toll in 35 years. Reports indicate that in the first six months of 2025, 871 people were executed. UN experts announced on 29 September that more than 1,000 executions had taken place in less than nine months, including at least 65 Afghan nationals.
Since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, executions have accelerated, used as instruments of fear and control. At least 404 have been recorded since then, including several on charges of espionage for Israel. Courts have recently issued new death sentences for political prisoners, while the Supreme Court has confirmed others.
The campaign “No to Executions on Tuesdays”, linked Rashidi’s case to this broader machinery of repression, describing her death as “part of the policy of slow killing through medical neglect.” In its weekly statement, the campaign declared: “The execution machine can be stopped only through solidarity. Every act of protest against an execution or a prison death is a step toward breaking this cycle of cruelty.”
A demand for accountability
For many political prisoners, Rashidi’s death crystallizes the stakes of imprisonment in Iran: a place where medical care is withheld, families are silenced, and prisoners face both sudden execution and slow death.
As 150 former prisoners concluded: “The killing of Somayeh Rashidi was systematic.”
Until independent investigations are allowed, and until prisons like Qarchak are closed, Rashidi’s death will not be the last.
